A big problem with the official narrative of the bin laden killing.

[Jesus Malverde]

Which seal killed bin laden?

Two different alumni of SEAL Team Six, the secretive group of highly trained warriors that killed Osama bin Laden three years ago, have been profiting off their role in the terror leader's death since leaving the military.

Former Team Six member Matt Bissonnette, who wrote a bestseller under a pseudonym about shooting bin Laden, is about to publish his second book about being a Navy SEAL. Rob O'Neill, meanwhile, is the unnamed "shooter" who was credited in numerous magazine articles with firing the fatal shots, and according to two SEAL sources will be presented again as the "shooter" in a Fox News interview that airs later this month. He has been traveling the country giving paid motivational speeches on the unspoken understanding that he's the man who killed bin Laden.

Neither man is the SEAL who was first up the stairs at bin Laden's Pakistan compound and fired the first shot at Osama. But their dueling narratives are a sign of the backbiting and dysfunction that has roiled a once tight-knit band of warriors as former members violate their code of secrecy in search of the spotlight.

Two different people telling two different stories for two different reasons," said Matt Bissonnette in an interview with NBC News. His second book, "No Hero," comes out next week. "Whatever he says, he says. I don't want to touch that."

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/investigations/who-shot-bin-laden-tale-two-seals-n241241

Chances are they are both lying.

[marym625]

1. This brings to light how much we cannot trust our government

I don't know what really happened. I have no feelings toward one story being true over the others. But the fact there are multiple stories just shines a light on how little we actually know about anything

[Jesus Malverde]

2. Exactly

[marym625]

4. .

[Jesus Malverde]

3. Who attacked the Hersh story the most?

Both men now face scorn from some brother SEALs. Unlike O'Neill, however, Bissonnette is under investigation by the federal government, which is trying to determine whether he disclosed classified information in his first book. He says he's sorry he didn't submit the book for legal review, but says there are "inconsistencies" about who is allowed to talk and who isn't, since higher ups were apparently speaking freely.

Tells me all I need to know about his credibility and objectivity.

[Autumn]

5. One thing I have learned. The government only tells us what they want us to know.

And the military brass will lie out their asses.

[Jesus Malverde]

6. From another article

But beyond that, it is extraordinarily naive to think the government is incapable of keeping a large secret involving dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of people. I am reminded of this passage from the memoirs of Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg, who knows a thing or two about how government secrecy works. Not only is the idea that you can’t keep secrets in Washington “flatly false,” Ellsberg writes, but by repeating it you’re doing the government’s work for them.

[Such sayings] are in fact cover stories, ways of flattering and misleading journalists and their readers, part of the process of keeping secrets well. Of course eventually many secrets do get out that wouldn’t in a fully totalitarian society. But the fact is that the overwhelming majority of secrets do not leak to the American public … The reality unknown to the public and to most members of Congress and the press is that secrets that would be of the greatest import to many of them can be kept from them reliably for decades by the executive branch, even though they are known to thousands of insiders. [emphasis added]

As a simple example, which Hersh himself stated in this fascinating On The Media interview, how many people knew about the Bush administration’s manipulation of intelligence before the Iraq war? Hundreds? Over a thousand? How many knew about the NSA’s mass phone metadata program aimed at Americans until Edward Snowden revealed it? A thousand? Ten thousand? It stayed secret for more than seven years until a single person—a contractor, not an NSA employee—exposed it.

http://www.cjr.org/analysis/seymour_hersh_osama_bin_laden.php

[Wilms]

8. That's some OP worthy stuff you got there.

Thanks

[Mojorabbit]

14. + a kabillion. nt

[gordianot]

7. There are probably many more things about Osama that are not known.

If he is really dead not exactly proven to the public I am fine with that. Am still curious who else was involved.

[stonecutter357]

9. .

[Jesus Malverde]

13. Heh

Nbc my friend and well predating the hersh article. Calling into question the credibility of the main debunker of the hersh story is in itself interesting

[Oilwellian]

10. There's still a lot of secrecy surrounding Pat Tillman's death

The official story never made sense and there are many who feel he was murdered by our own guys.

I have a cousin who was in the Army Special Forces during the 80's and was shot in the stomach in Turkey. To this day, he will not tell anyone what actually happened to him, including his own mother.

Our military does a really good job of brainwashing our kids to keep their secrets. I've often wondered how much of a role that plays on their conscience and overall mental health.

[JonLP24]

11. I'm usually the first to shout "conspiracy"

but they make it really hard to give the benefit of the doubt on the Bin Laden thing. The secret "burial at sea" was a big that's only if there are no other approved burials From The Telegraph:

"Traditional procedures for Islamic burial was followed," the May 2 email from Rear Admiral Charles Gaouette reads. "The deceased's body was washed (ablution) then placed in a white sheet. The body was placed in a weighted bag.

"A military officer read prepared religious remarks, which were translated into Arabic by a native speaker. After the words were complete, the body was placed on a prepared flat board, tipped up, whereupon the deceased's body slid into the sea."

The letters also revealed that no Navy sailors witnessed the burial and there are no pictures or video of the event.

From the AP:

Although the Obama administration has pledged to be the most transparent in American history, it is keeping a tight hold on materials related to the bin Laden raid. In a response to separate requests from the AP for information about the mission, the Defense Department said in March that it could not locate any photographs or video taken during the raid or showing bin Laden's body. It also said it could not find any images of bin Laden's body on the Vinson.

The Pentagon also said it could not find any death certificate, autopsy report or results of DNA identification tests for bin Laden, or any pre-raid materials discussing how the government planned to dispose of bin Laden's body if he were killed.

Aside from having great portions blacked out, the emails the AP did receive show Naval officers used code words to avoid mentioning specifics, and in an exchange with two admirals included, "FEDEX delivered the package. Both trucks are safely enroute home base."

The judicial block on bin Laden's death photos remains in place and it's uncertain how much additional information will become available about the raid.

http://www.businessinsider.com/details-of-osama-bin-ladens-secret-burial-at-sea-revealed-in-military-emails-2012-11

The burial at sea thing was only used if you were killed on a ship, not that I care either way but do it this way for those reasons you began to wonder if they faked his death but I give them the benefit doubt, just saying they make it difficult. I just wish it was all handled better. Bush changed the rules to not have prisoners of war rules apply to whoever was a terror suspect, then with rendition & black sites, torture taking these guys outside the rule of law threatening the prosecutions or using anyone as a witness in a prosecution. The evidence against Bin Laden was probably some statements to a video and Khalid Sheikh Mohammed being waterboarded over 200+ times.

[Jesus Malverde]

12. Good points...thanks..nt